Aladdin is a crowd-pleaser. There’s no question about that when you attend the touring production at the Fox and hear the enthusiastic audience reactions to this adaptation of the popular Disney animated movie. It’s got a memorable score and some classic songs, as well as big, bright, flashy production values and an excellent cast. There’s a lot to enjoy about this production, although there are also some problems.

The show, as presented at the Fox and based on the Broadway production, is essentially like a Disney theme park attraction on stage. It’s not particularly authentic to the Middle Eastern setting–in fact, the Genie (Michael James Scott) makes a point in his introduction of telling the audience that this is a fictional location, and especially stressing the word “fictional”. The cast is very diverse, but the show is definitely not going for accuracy in terms of setting and tone, either. It’s all extremely stylized and played up for humor. The film was also highly stylized, so this is just following that precedent, although this stage version is even more so, somewhat in the vein of a 1950s-style sketch comedy show. The hit songs from the film are all here, from “Friend Like Me” to “A Whole New World” and more. The story is essentially the same as the film, but with some changes—Aladdin (Clinton Greenspan) now has three sidekick-friends–Babkak (Zach Bencal), Omar (Phillippe Arroyo), and Kassim (Jed Feder) who show up from time to time, and villain Jafar (Jonathan Weir) still has his henchman Iago (Jay Paranada), but Iago is not a parrot and the other animal characters from the film have been written out. Princess Jasmine (Lissa deGuzman) is given a little bit more to do and sing. Also, Aladdin is given a little more backstory and some plot points have been changed and rearranged, and the ending seems somewhat abrupt.

I first saw the stage adaptation of this show a few years ago when the Muny presented it, prior to its Broadway run. It was still in the development stages. Seeing it again at the Fox, I’ve noticed a lot of changes made to the script in the meantime, some of which are improvements and others that are more questionable. For instance, Aladdin’s three friends were the narrators in the Muny version, and seemed more of a presence in the story. Here, the narrator role has been given to the Genie, which seems appropriate in one sense since the Genie is such a memorable character. Still, the three friends now seem more like thrown-in characters and don’t seem to have a lot of purpose in the story. Still, this isn’t trying to be deep or challenging. It’s trying to be a big Disney spectacle, and it succeeds at that, for the most part. It’s big, it’s flashy, there’s an impressive, ornate, versatile set by Bob Crowley, whimsically stylish costumes by Gregg Barnes, and atmospheric lighting by Natasha Katz. It almost looks like an animated film come to life, and director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw’s choreography is energetic and well-performed.

It’s the performances, in fact, that are the real highlight of this production, led by Scott in a funny, high-energy, charismatic turn as the Genie. Actually, with this show it’s worth wondering why they don’t just retitle it Aladdin and the Genie or even the other way around because even though Aladdin has the most stage time, the Genie is really the star. Greenspan is an amiable Aladdin as well, with a strong voice and excellent chemistry with the equally strong deGuzman as Jasmine. Their duet on “A Whole New World” is a highlight, as is the staging of that song, which is a major improvement on the version I saw at the Muny. Weir and Paranada are also excellent, hamming it up with enthusiasm as a pair of over-the-top cartoon villains. Bencal, Arroyo, and Feder do well with their underwritten roles, as does Jerald Vincent as the Sultan. The leads are supported by a strong ensemble that does well with the high-energy dancing and production numbers, as well.

There’s more than a little bit of the commercial about this Aladdin, but that’s not a surprise, really.It has a great cast and memorable songs. It’s a bright, tuneful, energetic show that’s sure to attract a large family audience, and if that’s what you are looking for, you should enjoy it.

Michael James ScottPhoto by Deen van MeerAladdin North American Tour

The North American tour of Aladdin is being presented at the Fox Theatre until November 25, 2018